Indira Gandhi (né Nehru) (1917-1984)

Country:India
Nom De Guerre:The Widow

Death Count:5,000-10,000
Avg. Rating:6.3
Survey Rank:N/A

Came To Power:Routine Election

Offices Held:
  1. Prime Minister

Career Highlights: Born Indira Nehru in 1917, Indira was the only child of nationalist leader and later Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Part of her childhood was spent in Allahbad where the Nehru's had their family home, and part was spent in Switzerland where her mother convalesced from a series of chronic illnesses. Nehru-Gandhi received her college education at Summerville College, Oxford.

1942-1950: Indira is married to Feroze Gandhi a respected but minor parliamentarian in 1942. Loathed by his father-in-law, Gandhi's somewhat promising career stalls after the marriage. In 1944 their first son, Rhajiv is born followed by his favored brother Sanjay in 1946. Although not directly involved in the independence movement, Nehru-Gandhi comes to know many of its key figures through her father during this period.

In 1947 India achieves full independence from Great Britain. At the same time West and East Pakistan are partitioned leading to widespread chaos, mass killings (with estimates ranging from 500,000 - 1.5 million) as well as the relocation of 12 to 14 million people across the newly created borders. Meanwhile the leader of the Untouchables, B.R. Ambedkar, an unremitting foe of Mohandas "Father of the Nation" Gandhi (no relation) is selected to draft the constitution for the newly foreshortened nation.

1950-1966: On 26 January 1950, India becomes a Republic, and the new Constitution is promulgated. The National Congress Party assumes power and Indira's father Jawaharlal Nehru becomes Prime Minister (an office he will hold until his death in 1964). Owing to her mother's death, Indira serves as her father's hostess and oversees his official residence further solidifying her familiarity with the issues and personalities of the day. In 1960 Feroze dies. In 1964 Jawaharlal Nehru dies. He succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri who is dead of heart attack within 18 months of taking office.

1966-1971: Indira Gandhi is selected by the Congress Party as its candidate to replace Bahadur Shastri. Party higher-ups believe Ghandi will prove a pliable figurehead for their backroom machinations but are quickly disabused of their illusions following the election as she quickly forces the old guard from power.

In 1971 West Pakistani troops initiate a reign of terror in secessionist East Pakistan. Some 14 million refugees stream into India. In part to stem the flood of refugees, in part to exploit the Pakistani disarray, Indian troops invade East and West Pakistan.

The action in the west is typically non productive resulting in thousands of casualties and producing little or no change in territory. However, the West Pakistani forces in East Pakistan quickly fall to the invading Indians resulting in abject surrender and the ultimate capture of over 90,000 Pakistani Troops. In December of 1971, the independent Nation of Bangladesh is declared.

1971-1975: Following the humiliation and dismemberment of India's perennial foe, Mrs. Gandhi enjoys enormous good will at home. However, high inflation, rampant corruption and continued poverty quickly erode her popularity and by 1973 Dehli and north India are rocked by opposition demonstrations.

The detonation of India's first nuclear device in 1974 briefly restores her reputation among the Hindu middle-class, but in 1975 the High Court of Allahabad, finding illegal practices, voids the results of her last election and orders the Prime Minister to vacate her seat.

1975-1980: Mrs Gandhi responds by declaring a state of emergency and suspending the more bothersome parts of the constitution. The press is censored and opposition politicians are subject to wholesale arrest.

Meanwhile Sanjay Gandhi begins to run the country as his personal sataparie. He initiates a controversial program of slum removal (resulting in mass displacement) and oversees a widely despised program of forced sterilization of the poor.

Believing that her policy of mass arrests has sufficiently debilitated the opposition, Mrs Gandhi lifts the state of emergency in 1977 and calls for fresh elections. The Congress Party is roundly defeated at the polls.

1980-1984: After three years in opposition, the Congress Party is return to power in 1980. That same year Sanjay dies in an airplane crash.

Much of Gandhi's second run at power is absorbed in resolving separatist tensions convulsing the Punjab region. In order to crush the militant Sikh secessionists movement there, Mrs Ganhi orders an assault on their stronghold in the holiest Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple at Amristar in 1984. Although the operation succeeds in driving the militants from their stronghold, the temple is damaged earning the Prime Minister the undying hatred of the Sikh community. As a result, in November of 1984 Mrs Gandhi is killed by her bodyguards, devout Sikh's who cite Amristar in their confessions.

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Indira Gandhi

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